However, planning minister Brandon Lewis said high streets do not have to lose out, because online shopping can bring people into town centres, as reported by retail-week.com and cited by evigo.com. According to a new law, retailers wanting to install click-and-collect facilities will no longer have to apply for planning permission, which now costs GBP 195 and requires to fill in reams of paperwork.
The UK is the most active nation in terms of click-and-collect services in Europe with use of the service expected to double by 2018. More and more retailers are joining the click-and-collect revolution. This growth may be a result of consumer collection services offering shoppers a more manageable, flexible and often cheaper solution to daytime home delivery. Some retailers have also installed eBay and Amazon lockers to allow the ecommerce companies customers to pick up their shopping in-store rather than have them delivered.
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